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"Bass Fishing Beats Billions From TVA Sale for Tennessee"

"Scott Lee, an ardent fisherman from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has an opinion as to whether Barack Obama should sell the federally chartered Tennessee Valley Authority to private investors: Don't do it."

"Lee ticks off reasons shared by many of the utility giant's 9 million power users. Cheap power is one, and jobs is another. TVA employs 12,700 people across its seven-state region. The third is his favorite: The company knows how to nurture largemouth bass and please the fishermen who prize them.

Lee has come, on a pristine April morning, a golden haze on the water, redbud and dogwood trees abloom in greening hills, to a boat launch on Watts Bar Lake, 45 minutes west of TVA's Knoxville headquarters. He's one of about 20 anglers who have signed up for an outreach in public relations that helps to explain why an estimated two-thirds of Tennesseans oppose a TVA sale even if it helps reduce the national debt. The deal could raise an estimated $30 billion to $35 billion, estimates Travis Miller, a Chicago-based analyst at Morningstar Inc."